FSU Sand Volleyball Wraps Up Tournament

Tallahassee, FL - In the last competitive event before National Championships, the Seminoles showed off their team’s depth and won the Silver bracket while placing second in the Gold bracket.

The duo of Stephanie and Nina Pellitteri went undefeated on the weekend in dual match play and in bracket play to win the Silver bracket. The sisters moved to 31-4 on the year, as the only Seminole pair to have played every match together. They had a combined record of 6-0 over the weekend.

“We were a little tired the first match coming in, but it was the end of the day - one match left. We had nothing to lose,” said Stephanie Pellitteri. “Going into it they were seeded No. 3 and we were No. 5. They were expected to win. We had nothing to lose.”

The sisters used that mentality to upset their fellow teammates and Florida State’s No. 3 team of Katherine Plessy and Aurora Davis, 18-21, 21-17, 17-15.

“We’ve been battling each other in the fall and now in the spring. Every single practice we play each other so we kind of know each other’s games so it can go either way all the time. It makes it really interesting and really competitive,” said Stephanie.

After losing the first set in the finals, they fought back to win the final two sets and were crowned the Silver bracket champions. Florida State had three pairs in the Silver bracket semifinals, Plessy/Davis, Kiley/Yildirim, Pellitteri/Pellitteri, and both teams in the championship match.

In the Gold bracket, Georgia State’s team of Lane Carico and Katie Madewell rolled through the bracket and took first place. They faced Florida State’s Jace Pardon and Sarah Wickstrom in the first match of the day, defeating them, 21-19, 21-19.

After the loss, Pardon and Wickstrom faced elimination. They won the next two matches and reached the finals to face off against the only duo to have defeated them over the weekend, Carico and Madewell.

Pardon and Wickstrom dropped a close first set, 19-21, they were unable to force a third set and lost in straight sets, 19-21, 12-21. Julie Brown and Melanie Pavels received seventh place in the Gold bracket by beating Ally Slaughter and Kirsten Gallagher of UAB, 21-18, 23-21.

After a solid day on the sand, Florida State can now focus on the goal they’ve had since the beginning of the season, the National Championships. “It’s been obviously on our mind the whole season. I think after the California trip it was clear that we had a great chance of making it. As we go forward it’s always on our mind and we compete thinking about that.” said head coach Danalee Corso.

The depth of the FSU team gives them an advantage, but some might think the switching of pairs might cause some disadvantages. Danalee Corso begs to differ. “We have some new partnerships which puts them in different roles so that has been to our disadvantage. For example, we have two blockers playing together who have great defensive skills but haven’t really played that position and our No. 1 team are two defenders who have never played blocker. I think it’s like one step back to take two steps forward. We’ve had some injuries but right now I think they are going to look really good heading into National Championships.”

“It’s going to be so exciting,” said Nina Pellitteri. “Playing against these three teams is going to be like what the competition is like in the National Championships. It’s not going to be easier, laid back teams. It’s going to be really hard, tough games, just like we played in our last match.”

“This is our lineup. This is how it’s going to look,” said Corso. “I’m happy with how the team played. I think we got better as the day went on and usually people get more tired, so that’s really good. That means their condition was good. We were a little flat yesterday and we came on stronger today. That was important.”

The Florida State volleyball team will host an intra-squad event next weekend at the Seminole Volleyball complex before traveling to play in the National Championships in Gulf Shores, Alabama on May 3-5.th.

For more information on the Florida State sand volleyball team, follow the Seminoles on Twitter at: @FSU_SVB.

Online Public Information File

Viewers with disabilities can get assistance accessing this station's FCC Public Inspection File by contacting the station with the information listed below. Questions or concerns relating to the accessibility of the FCC's online public file system should be directed to the FCC at 888-225-5322, 888-835-5322 (TTY), or fccinfo@fcc.gov.